Natalie Merchant with Erik Della Penna: Autumn Acoustic Tour

Over her forty-year career, Natalie Merchant has earned recognition among America’s most respected recording artists, drawing audiences with her captivating performances and intentional songwriting. “Natalie Merchant is a rare breed,” says the Daily Telegraph. “An artist who has never compromised, but instead evolved with integrity, thought, and meaning.” Her music blends folk, rock, and world music influences, and she continues to be regarded as a pioneering figure in alternative music. Her latest record, Keep Your Courage (released in 2023 on Nonesuch Records), finds Merchant in peak form, with Mojo calling it “her most beautiful [material] in decades.” The album dives into love and human connection in its many forms—with Merchant’s voice to keep you hanging on every word. Merchant has also distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist through her work with a wide variety of non-profit organizations, and by creating documentary films and large-scale community arts projects.

Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and released two platinum and four gold records with the group. She left the band in 1993 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with combined sales of seven million copies.

In 2007, Merchant was appointed by Governor Elliot Spitzer to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts, and in 2022 Senator Chuck Schumer appointed her to the board of trustees of The American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress. Merchant’s awards for artistic excellence and philanthropic work include: the ASCAP Champion Award, The Library Lion Award from the New York Public Library, and The John Lennon Real Love Award. In 2025 the National Head Start Association made Natalie their national artist-in-residence.